Grad Profile: Ryan Vanoni, E’25

For Ryan Vanoni, E’25, fascination with buildings goes far beyond blueprints or construction materials – it’s about curiosity, creativity and sometimes getting stuck on a roof.

“One time, for class, I had to get a picture of Strong Hall, and I figured I’d get a picture from overhead,” said Vanoni with a laugh. “I found a door that goes to the roof and got some great pictures, but then I realized the door was only one way. Luckily, there was a fire escape, but I’m sure someone in the chancellor’s office was like, ‘who’s that guy going down the fire escape?’”

Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, Vanoni has always enjoyed exploring architecture. He had always wanted to go into some kind of engineering, but had not realized Architectural Engineering was the right choice for him until a KU campus visit.

“I was originally thinking about the University of Oklahoma, because my dad went there,” he said. “During my campus visit, I learned that the KU School of Engineering is a Tier-1 research institution. I was not that interested in research, but I knew that if there was strong research, there would be good professors and department funding it.”

Vanoni has spent his educational career focusing specifically on lighting design in the Architectural Engineering program. He credits Hongyi Cai, an associate professor specializing in lighting research, as one of many professors who supported him in his academic career.

“Dr. Cai helps anyone he knows who is interested in lighting,” he said. “He’ll meet with you to make sure you understand the material and help with finding scholarships.”

Vanoni was a recipient of the IES Young Professional Scholarship and the 2024 Robert J. Besal Memorial Education Fund. This fund is a scholarship developed to support students currently studying lighting design. KU students have been recipients of this award almost every year, dating back to 1995.

Not only has Vanoni found his place in lighting design, but he also quickly connected to the CEAE department on a more personal level, joining the department as a student worker in his freshman year and remained on staff throughout his tenure.

“The position certainly got me a lot more comfortable with professors,” he said, “and I learned a lot of the goings on in CEAE.”

Now that he’s wrapped up his last semester and taken his walk down the Hill, Vanoni plans to move to Colorado, where he will be joining LS Group in Basalt. While at KU, he also interned at a local engineering firm, where his team focused on healthcare-related projects, but Vanoni is excited to move toward hospitality and residential and commercial lighting projects.

“LS Group performs some really interesting and ambitious designs,” he said. “They recently designed the Populus Hotel, which was featured in Time Magazine and Architectural Digest. So, the opportunity to work on those kinds of projects is exciting.”

For long-term goals, Vanoni plans to work hard in Colorado and looks forward to taking advantage of the outdoor opportunities living in the Rocky Mountains provides.

“I’ve really enjoyed living in Lawrence and in the Kansas City area,” he said. “I am excited about the opportunity to live and work in Colorado, but I wouldn’t rule out moving back to the Kansas City area in the future.”

Vanoni’s time at KU has been full of meaningful experiences, including a freshman design studio where he helped create a museum concept of a Civil War-era site in Kansas.

“We got to present it to an architecture firm,” he said. “The firm’s principal immediately spotted a subtle change we had made to a tower’s height, and I was like, ‘Wow, this person really knows what they are doing.’ It was an eye-opening moment.”

For future engineers, Vanoni’s advice for future engineering students is simple:

“Be willing to try things that make you uncomfortable, that is where the growth happens. And if you are even a little interested in lighting, please talk to Dr. Cai – he will take it from there.”